Load and Household Profiles Analysis for Air-Conditioning and Total Electricity in Malaysia

Load profile of household air-conditioning (AC) and total electricity consumption is essential to increase the stability of the energy demand on the grid. Therefore, field measurements on time series data of total and AC electricity consumption from 20 households were conducted from March 2016 to August 2017. The questionnaire survey was carried out simultaneously to grasp the profile of each family. The average total daily and AC consumption were 14.5 kWh/day and 3.9 kWh/day, respectively. The average hourly electricity consumption for total was 0.6 kWh/hour, meanwhile for AC was 0.2 kWh/hour. About 20% of the total peak demand was contributed by the consumption of AC. The indoor air temperature was measured in the bedroom (BR) when AC was switched ON and OFF with an average of 27 ∘C and 29 ∘C, respectively. However, the indoor air temperature in the living room (LR) was 2∘C and 1∘C higher if compared to BR for both conditions. Based on the questionnaire survey, 92% of the occupants preferred a temperature setting below than the level recommended by the Malaysian standard i.e., 24 ∘C. These results might be beneficial to understand the occupant behavior of electricity demand in Malaysia for designing smart grid energy systems in the future

Short-Term Measurements of Household Electricity Demand During Hot Weather in Kuala Lumpur

The aim of this study was to conduct short-term measurements on household electricity demand under hot weather conditions in a residential area in Kuala Lumpur. The measurements included total and air conditioner (AC) electricity consumption of 10 households in an apartment building as well as outdoor air temperatures, which were collected from March to May 2016. Results indicated that the average AC electricity consumption contributed to a major portion of total household electricity consumption, which ranged from 19.4 to 52.3% during the measurement period. Additionally, 1-minute interval time series data indicated household energy consumption more accurately than 30- or 60-minute interval

Thermal comfort and occupant adaptive behaviour in university offices with cooling and free running modes

This paper presents results of a small-scale field survey of occupant thermal comfort and adaptive behaviour, conducted in university office buildings in Fukuoka, Japan (August 2014). A comparison was made between offices with cooling (AC) and free running (FR) modes. Indoor environmental conditions were measured, simultaneously with administration of a questionnaire survey. Most Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) values were higher than Thermal Sensation Vote (TSV) values for both cases. This indicates that the PMV model over-predicted actual thermal response. The thermal response in FR offices was found to be more sensitive than in those with AC; additionally, respondents could tolerate a narrower range of variation in indoor operative temperature. Occupants’ adaptive behaviours in AC office were more limited compared to those of respondents with FR. This indicates amenable thermal conditions in A/C-controlled indoor environments, with occupants having no wish to make changes

Field Survey of Thermal Comfort and Sleep Quality in the Bedrooms with Different Cooling Strategies in Malaysia

This study aims to determine the indoor comfort temperature before sleep and after wake up in air-conditioning (AC) mode with different adaptive cooling strategies. Two units of guest rooms on the university campus were used with a total of 20 participants. The arbitrary-controlled AC setting (case 1) and control of thermostat setting by 3∘C higher than case 1 with installing of cool bed padding (case 2) were employed as cooling strategies in this study. The measurement parameters were indoor and outdoor air temperatures, globe temperature, relative humidity, air velocity, and AC electricity consumption. The questionnaire survey has also been distributed twice a day for “before going to bed” and “after waking up” during measurement simultaneously. It was observed that thermal sensation vote (TSV) indicated for both cases were within -1 ≤ TSV ≤ 1 and respondents might accept the present condition for both cases. Mean thermal preference (TP) in both cases either “before going to bed” and “after waking up” was found mostly close to “0 no change” (0.1 ≤ TP ≤ 0.3) for all cases. Overall comfort (OC) ranged between 4.7 and 4.9 for both cases, indicating for “comfortable.” However, air movement sensation (AMS) shows respondent felt weak airflow inside the room for all ventilation strategies. The skin moisture sensation (SMS) shows value pointed to neutral feeling for all cases. The comfort temperature obtained by Griffiths’ method was approximately 24∘C and 25∘C that for case 1 and case 2, respectively. Meanwhile, most of the respondents experienced calmness during sleeping and satisfied with their sleep in both cases. Sleep efficiency index (SEI) shows case 2 was higher rather than case 1. It seems the second adaptive cooling strategy might effective for reducing AC energy consumption by about 32% and increase 2% of SEI without affecting respondents’ thermal comfort.     Keywords: thermal comfort, sleep quality, air-conditionin

Experimental study on effect of spires on the lateral nonuniformity of mean flow in a wind tunnel

The present work discusses in detail the experimental settings to establish a thick artificially generated urban-like atmospheric boundary layer in a short-fetch-length wind tunnel. It summarizes the comprehensive review of past studies on the flow behind quarter-elliptic-wedge spires, and clarifies the current issue of the spire setting in a wind tunnel experiment. This study investigates the persistent spanwise heterogeneity, the spatial structures of the flow past a row of quarter-elliptic-wedge spires, the streamwise distance required for a wake of elliptic-wedge spires to naturally recover, and how the mean flow changes farther downstream. Two experimental conditions were implemented in the present work (without and with spires) to analyse the effect of mean flow heterogeneity both within and above boundary layer height (BLH) regions, developing over a smooth wall that was produced by the installation of a flat plate on the wind tunnel floor

Time series data measurement on electricity consumption for selected domestic appliances in typical terrace house of Malaysia

This paper describes the pattern of electricity consumption from total and selected domestic appliances at a typical terrace house in Malaysia. The measured appliances can be classified into four groups on the basis of pattern of use which are ‘standby’ (TV), ‘active’ (massage chair, charger of hand phone, laptop and power bank, washing machine, air-conditioners, iron, standing fan, shower heaters, rice cooker, toaster, microwave), ‘cold’ (refrigerator) and ‘cold and hot’ (water dispenser). The major contribution of monthly electricity consumption comes from ‘cold’ appliances that consume 118.8 kWh/month followed by ‘active’ appliances that consume 87.8 kWh/month and ‘cold and hot’ appliance with 52.5 kWh/month. ‘Standby’ appliances shown a small contribution to the total electricity with 0.9 kWh/month. The amount of energy consumed depends on time-of-use, power characteristics of particular appliances as well as occupancy period

Numerical simulation on wind-driven cross ventilation in square arrays of urban buildings with different opening positions

Effective wind-driven cross ventilation requires a well-designed opening, such as a window, to allow sufficient exchange between indoor and outdoor air, especially when the building is surrounded by other buildings. Using computational fluid dynamics, the present study investigated the effect of different opening positions on wind-driven ventilation in a building in an area with a packing density of 25%. The renormalization group κ-ε turbulence model, a type of Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) model, was used to characterize the airflow in cubical building blocks arranged in a square array. Nine different configurations of aligned cross openings and nine configurations with non-aligned outlet positions were tested. The ventilation rates obtained for the aligned cross openings showed that openings positioned at the uppermost of the windward and leeward façade provided highest ventilation rate. The ventilation rate was reduced by 75% when the openings were positioned at the bottom of the façade. As for the fixed inlet in the centre, the ventilation rate was 100% higher when the outlet is at the top of the leeward façade compared to the bottom of the façade. The outcomes of this study show that opening position is imperative in providing effective wind-driven cross ventilation in urban areas

Survey of resident behaviour related to air conditioner operation in low-cost apartments of Kuala Lumpur

Predictions of air conditioner (AC) use can greatly facilitate efforts to increase energy efficiency in buildings and promote sustainability. In order to determine the statistical characteristics of occupant behaviour related to AC operation, a series of surveys were conducted between September 2013 and December 2015 in 63 dwellings within two apartments in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Measurements were taken either in the bedroom or living room of each dwelling. The results indicate that occupants who use ACs more frequently tend to use them for longer periods. It was found that AC use in bedrooms is not affected by outdoor temperature but is controlled by the habitual behaviour of the occupant. AC usage in living rooms slightly increases with increases in outdoor temperature. AC usage predominantly occurs at night time, with a maximum of 50 % of occupants using ACs in bedrooms. The start time and duration of use vary for each dwelling. These findings on stochastic resident behaviour might be useful for various building energy simulations in predicting realistic AC loads, particularly in tropical climates

Investigation of Indoor Thermal Environments in a Two-Story Corner Terrace House in Malaysia

An effective passive cooling strategy is essential for reducing energy consumption in a residential building without ignoring thermal comfort. Therefore, a field measurement on the thermal performance of a corner terrace house in Kuala Lumpur was conducted to reveal the effectiveness of free running (FR) with four different approaches – no ventilation, full ventilation, day ventilation, and night ventilation. The measurement was done for all bedrooms and family area on the first floor. Also, mixed mode (MM) consisting of natural ventilation, mechanical ventilation with ceiling fan, and cooling with an air-conditioner that represents the actual condition of this house was also measured at living and dining area on the ground floor for comparison. The results reveal that FR from all approaches recorded a mean indoor air temperature of approximately 31 ∘C. The actual thermal condition of the house with MM on the ground floor was recorded at 30 ∘C, 1 ∘C lower than FR approach on the first floor. When compared with relevant international standards on predicting indoor comfort temperature based on outdoor temperature, FR was approximately 5 ∘C higher than predicted temperature based on American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 55 (2017), 3.4 ∘C higher than European Standard EN15251 and 1.5 ∘C higher than adaptive thermal comfort equation (ACE) for hot-humid climate. In comparison, MM performed better and was closer to relevant international standards, especially ACE for the hot-humid climate. As a conclusion, FR is not suitable for a hot-humid climate such as Malaysia to achieve a comfortable indoor thermal environment without any assisted ventilation use in MM

Investigation of thermal adaptation and development of an adaptive model under various cooling temperature settings for students’ activity rooms in a university building in malaysia

The use of an air conditioner (AC) becomes essential, particularly in a hot and humid climate, to provide a comfortable environment for human activities. The setpoint is the agreed temperature that the building will meet, and the use of the lowest setpoint temperature to accelerate the cooling of indoor spaces should be avoided. A comprehensive field study was conducted under various cooling temperature settings in two student activity rooms in a university building in Malaysia, so as to understand respondents’ characteristics and behavior toward AC usage, to estimate the comfort at various indoor temperatures, to develop an adaptive model of thermal comfort in AC spaces, and to compare the comfort temperature with related local and international indoor thermal environmental standards. The findings indicated that water intake and clothing insulation affected personal thermal comfort. Moreover, the mean comfort temperature for respondents was 24.3 °C, which is within an indoor thermal comfort zone of 23–27 °C. The findings suggest that the preference of occupants living in a hot and humid region for lower temperatures means that setting temperatures lower than 24 °C might underestimate the indoor comfort temperature. Additionally, an adaptive relationship can be derived to estimate the indoor comfort temperature from the prevailing outdoor temperature